Forestry REDD+

Introduction

The United Nation’s REDD+ program is a project for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries like the Philippines, in partnership with developed countries. The sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks (known as “REDD+”) is a key climate change mitigation action.

Enhancing the benefits of REDD+

Forests play a specific role in the carbon cycle, by absorbing (sequestering) Carbon Dioxide during Photosynthesis. We know that carbon is stored in their branches, leaves, roots, soil and biomass. It is common knowledge that forestry captures and store Carbon Dioxide, yet we continue to wonder how we can reverse the accumulation of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere? The obvious answer is to grow more forests to replace all those that have been cleared. Nevertheless, we continue clearing forested land and delete their carbon sequestration capacity; to make way for population growth, urbanization and farming areas. The CPRSX Protected Food production program and its allied soil detoxification and afforestation projects will significantly mitigate the adverse consequences.

The Importance of REDD and REDD+

Both REDD and REDD+ are intended to help reduce carbon emissions into the earth’s atmosphere. REDD is a general term for an international policy and finance mechanism that will make possible the funding of forest conservation and establishment, and/or large-scale purchases and sales of forest carbon. REDD is intended to address both deforestation (the clearing of forests) and forest degradation.

REDD+ is an expansion of REDD in making conservation and sustainable forest management economically feasible. An allied financial arise through emissions trading permits and environmental tourism.

The (UN-REDD, 2010) and the World Bank estimated that the financial income from REDD+ could reach up to US$30 billion a year. Four years later that estimation was shown to be an underestimate. A modified approach to implementing REDD+ as proposed by the CPRSX Climate Change Action Plan™ has the potential to transform that $30 billion estimate into much more. In recent times, professional bodies and UN climate change organisations are thinking in terms of trillions and not billions. This is in line with CPRSX’s and its Foundation Members thinking as far back as late 2007.

Adapting to the actual economical value of forestry

When the CPRSX Climate Change Action Plan was conceived with our JV Partners in the Philippines, we recognized that forestry and carbon sequestration industries will become more valuable to humanity and global economies, than most would have imagined. Yet nothing could be more blatantly obvious than the following;

Forestry and trees sequester carbon emissions and emit oxygen.

Forests are the most diverse terrestrial ecosystems: they preserve watersheds and soils, regulate local climates and provide wood, energy, food, medicines, fibres and clean water to society, especially to forest-dependent peoples, who are mainly poor and distanced from working and employment opportunities.

Forests are the life support system for all humanity and all wildlife species without which, life on earth could not exist.

In contrast to the blatantly obvious, the need to clear land for population growth and food production cannot be avoided. Therefore, a very strong and globally united effort via REDD+ have the proven potential to increase forested areas and tree numbers by actively managing and auditing forestry, trees, land use, food production and carbon sequestration. These tasks require a different or new way to manage, maintain and nurture trees and the lands on which they grow. These actions are element of ‘climate change adaptation’.

On these facts it is clear that ‘climate change adaptation’ together with REDD+ can and will change the way we think about trees, forestry, land use, wildlife and humanity’s ability for survival on earth. The rapid and successful implementation of REDD+ and the speed with which societies, governments and land owners adapt their thinking and actions to happily embrace ‘climate change adaptation’ are important in that they create new industries, socioeconomic opportunities and sustainable lifestyles. CPRSX believes that the key to success is completely dependant on Indigenous Inclusiveness and political will; both of which are unfettered in the Philippines.

Areas of CPRSX’s REDD+ commercialization strategy

The logistics of CPRSX’s‘Climate Change Capitalism’ REDD+ strategy encourages the principles of Climate Change Adaptation by changing the way we manage land use, farming and food production, water distribution, animal breeding, pollination, soil detoxification and regeneration of redundant farming lands, afforestation and biomass maintenance and more. Examples include;

Protecting forested areas from illegal logging.

Introducing Pyrolysis and BioChar to detoxify soil and commercialise biomass as a feedstock for Pyrolysis.

Afforestation.

Environmentally controlled food production and animal breeding.

Overall benefits of REDD+

REDD+ is designed to create lasting business value while preserving forests, empowering rural and indigenous communities, protecting endangered plants and animals, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Corporate Social Responsibility: REDD+ helps companies achieve their CSR goals by connecting social and environmental commitments to global institutional development for sustainable land use and economic growth.

Environmental Sustainability Goals: REDD+ is a natural capital investment, preserving forest ecosystems, and the services they provide. An investment in REDD+ helps companies meet their environmental goals while also protecting the world’s most valuable carbon sinks.

Stakeholder Engagement: Corporate commitments to REDD+ demonstrate environmental and social commitments to customers, employees, partners, financiers, shareholders, and regulators. Regions where REDD+ is being implemented are critical to where many industries source, operate, and sell. REDD+ investments which can be leveraged to acquire new and retain existing customers, build brand loyalty and advocacy, improve employee morale and retention, and address stakeholder concerns about environmental risk management and a company’s social license to operate.

Public Relations & Marketing: Companies who invest in REDD+ can effectively and meaningfully communicate their participation in global efforts to stop deforestation and its consequent greenhouse gas emissions. Moreover, they can also tell the stories of the lives impacted and uplifted, of the habitats and animals preserved, and of the new sustainable development opportunities created. Effective and sincere communication about the benefits of REDD+ can increase customer retention, acquisition, advocacy, and brand loyalty.

New Product Development: REDD+ provides an opportunity to responsibly launch carbon-neutral and/or conservation themed products and projects. Companies involved in REDD+ can increase customer acquisition and demonstrate ROI results. New innovative products can revitalize an aging product line, endear a new line to a younger, more environmentally conscious audience, garner favorable attention from customers and consumers, and build a more loyal audience.

Biodiversity Conservation: Tropical forests are home to more than half the world’s species of plants and animals. Biodiversity loss poses a very real threat to the sustainability of humanity, business and commerce. Tropical forest conservation is an increasingly prominent goal of business and stakeholders. Commitments to REDD+ can help protect biodiversity relevant to a company’s operations and improve a company’s social license to operate in tropical countries.

Natural Capital Investment: REDD+ is a natural capital investment in the world’s most threatened, high conservation value forest ecosystems. By quantifying and valuing the carbon storage services that forests provide, REDD+ creates an institutionally-backed market for ecosystem service investments and natural carbon sinks that mitigate industrial emissions reductions.

Host Country Goodwill: REDD+ integrates and aligns with national development priorities in Least Developed Countries and works closely with government agencies to achieve these goals. REDD+ investments in regions where companies operate demonstrate long-term commitment to host country’s communities, ecosystems, and development – enhancing shared public-private goals and operations.

The United Nations created the REDD+ mechanism to quantify and value the carbon storage services that forests provide. By making forests more valuable standing than felled, REDD+ provides forest communities and developing countries with a sustainable, low-carbon pathway to economic growth.

REDD+ projects work with communities to restructure local economies towards sustainable land use and forest conservation. The sale of resultant Verified Emission Reductions helps finance low-carbon, sustainable development activities.

REDD+ projects are independently validated and verified to ensure both the emissions reductions and the community and environmental benefits are transparent and accountable.

Many countries, states, and jurisdictions are also now looking to how they can partner with each other to achieve shared emissions reductions goals. These activities fall under institutional bodies such as UN-REDD, the Governors Climate & Forests Task Force, and more.

The benefits of REDD+ go well beyond emissions reductions to include forest conservation, sustainable economic development, and biodiversity preservation. By recognizing the economic value of ecosystem services that standing forests provide, REDD+ helps realign economic incentives with environmental integrity. This not only stops deforestation, but also gives indigenous and forest communities the opportunity to develop in a more sustainable way.

REDD+ can have enormous benefits for the environment and indigenous people alike if implemented correctly. For this reason, safeguards are needed to ensure the environmental and social integrity of REDD+ projects. At the project level, such safeguards are validated and verified by independent bodies, such as the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA).

At the program and policy level, various multilateral bodies are working to unite and solidify environmental and social safeguards for REDD+. The REDD Offsets Working Group has recommended rigorous Social and Environmental Safeguards for jurisdictional REDD+ programs. At the program and policy level, various multilateral bodies are working to unite and solidify environmental and social safeguards for REDD+.

The biodiversity and ecosystem service benefits of forests are especially important to the well-being of the world’s poor. Over 90% of those who live on less than $1 per day depend to some extent on forests for their livelihoods, and conservation of those areas is therefore particularly beneficial to the development of poor communities. In this sense, REDD+ significantly contributes to sustainable development opportunities in developing countries.

The CPRSX Climate Change Action Plan ™ represents an innovative REDD+ management and climate change adaptation strategy for enhancing the revenue making capacity of our REDD+ strategy; which is an alternative and faster pathway for the Philippines National REDD+ Strategy also.

Philippines National REDD+ Strategy

The core values which guide the Philippines National REDD+ Strategy are maintained in the CPRSX Climate Change Action Plan. They are:

Approximately 70 million Indigenous Peoples depend on forests for their livelihoods and another 350 million rural people reside in or near them. Many of these communities have long-standing relationships with forested land and they depend on them. The active involvement of Indigenous Peoples and other forest-dependent communities in forest management mitigates deforestation, when they are empowered through education, skills and opportunities through CPRSX’s Climate Change Adaptation strategy.